Transparent Chennai has started a project on Electoral Accountability where we seek to understand what our elected representatives do, how we can measure their performance and hold them accountable. In the weeks leading up to the Council elections that will be held in October, we will be putting out information on what our local government does and how they function. In this regard, we are starting a blogpost series Chennai Council Elections. Below is the first post in this series:

According to the Chennai Municipal Corporation Act, 1919, a Councilor can bring to notice of the proper authority the neglect of municipal work, wastage of municipal property, communicate the needs of his ward and suggest improvements. A Councilor has access to the records of the Corporation and can peruse them giving due notice to the Commissioner. Councilors can also be held liable for loss or wastage of money or property of the Corporation caused by them.

From talking to a Ward Councilor one understands that they, informally, interact with their constituents and use meetings at the Ward Committee and the Council to give voice to their needs. Requests by the Councilor that are approved at the Ward Committee meetings are presented at the Council meetings and result in resolutions. The Council Department says that around 100-150 resolutions are passed at the Council meetings that are usually held once a month.

In the murky waters of what a Councilor can or cannot do, there is one clear responsibility they can carry out- the utilization of funds provided to them under the Councilor Ward Development Scheme. Every year, each Councillor gets a specific sum to use for the development of his ward. The funds come to the Corporation from the State Government. When a Councillor wants to use these funds, he suggests a work that needs to be done within his ward like road improvement, he tells the Junior Engineer to prepare a plan and draw up an estimate. This is then taken up to the Assistant Commissioner for approval. On receiving his sanction it goes to the concerned department in the Corporation, a tender is called for and the contract is given out. The funds are released directly to the contractor by the Assistant Commissioner at the Zone.

Now, this should be good news. But how are they spending this money? Are they spending at all? An RTI filed by Transparent Chennai shows that during the year 2007-08, from the total allotment of Rs.1085 lakh 70% was used. The allotment for each Councilor was Rs.7 lakh. When in 2008-09 the allotment increased to Rs.15 lakh per Councilor, the percentage of total expenditure fell to 63.5%. With the increase in allotment to Rs.25 lakh in 2009-2010, the spending fell further to 40.6%. It increased to 62.74% in 2010-2011. Were the elections slated for October 2011[1] an incentive?

More pitiful are the figures of the Mayor Special Development Fund, only using Rs. 18.36 lakh in 2007-08 and Rs.12.62 lakh in 2008-09 out of the allotted Rs.50 lakh. Following the downward trend, in 2009-2010, when the allotment increased to Rs.200 lakh spending plummeted to a miserable Rs.9.71 lakh.  No figure was given for 2010-2011.

- Meryl Mary Sebastian

[1] Mariappan, Julie; Poll fever continues; local body elections slated for October, The Hindu, 29 April 2011. < http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-04-29/chennai/29486803_1_local-body-polls-assembly-polls-poll-fever>

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